1. Field
A cooking appliance is disclosed herein.
2. Background
In general, cooking appliances are a kind of household or indoor appliance used to cook food or other items (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “food”) using electricity or other forms of energy. Cooking appliances using gas as a heat source may include a gas range, a gas oven, and a gas oven range, for example. That is, various cooking appliances to cook food using gas combustion are provided.
FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a general gas oven range as an example of a cooking appliance. As shown FIG. 1, a cooking appliance 10 or a gas oven range includes a cabinet 20 that forms an outer appearance of the cooking appliance. The cabinet 20 may have a chamber 25 formed thereinside in order to accommodate food to be cooked therein. The chamber 25 may be removed or separated from a gas range.
A cook-top 26 may be provided at a top of the cabinet 20 on which containers used for cooking may be placed. While a container, such as a pot, is placed on the cook-top 26, food may be cooked by a gas flame generated below the cook-top 26.
Such a chamber 25 or cook-top 26 may be referred to as a cooking unit or device, which cooks food using heat from a gas flame. Various cooking devices may be provided according to a type of cooking appliance. For example, cooking devices that cook food directly using a gas flame or using radiation or convection from a gas flame may be provided. The cook-top 26 may be an example of a cooking device that directly uses a gas flame, and the chamber 25 may be an example of a cooking device that uses heat radiation or convection from a gas flame.
A door 50 may be provided at a front portion of the cabinet 20 in order to open and close the chamber 25, and a door handle 60 may be provided at or on the door 50. A user may open and close the door 50 using the door handle 60.
The cooking appliance 10 may include a panel 30, which may be integrally formed with the cabinet 20 or removably coupled to the cabinet 20. Various manipulation units or devices, through which a user may manipulate the cooking appliance 10, may be provided at the panel 30.
The manipulation devices may function to enable a user to ignite or extinguish gas or adjust a flame intensity. The manipulation devices may include a timer, and a display unit or display to show cooking information or a current operational state of the cooking appliance 10.
In the case of a cooking appliance using gas, the panel 30 may be provided with a knob 40. The knob 40 may be referred to as a manipulation device, through which a user may ignite gas at a specific position.
For example, a user may manipulate the knob 40 in order to ignite gas in the chamber 25 or ignite gas at a specific one of a plurality of cook-tops. Therefore, the cooking appliance typically includes a plurality of knobs as the manipulation devices.
The knob 40 is generally connected with a valve shaft (not shown, refer to FIG. 4) of a gas valve (not shown, refer to FIG. 4), which is located behind the panel 30. The knob 40 is generally configured to move forward and rotate in order to ignite gas. In other words, because it is dangerous to use a gas flame, the knob may be configured so as to necessarily be driven by two movements in the interest of safety. In particular, in order to prevent children from easily manipulating the knob, household gas appliances may adopt a push and turn mechanism. The two movements of the knob 40 are transmitted to the gas valve through the valve shaft, thereby igniting gas in the chamber or at the desired cook-top.
The forward movement of the valve shaft is for generating a spark using electricity, and the rotation of the valve shaft is for supplying gas. As a result, the spark ignites the gas.
As shown in the drawings, the panel 30 may be disposed on the front portion or the top portion of the cabinet 20. Further, the panel 30, as shown in FIG. 1, may be arranged at an incline, or may be arranged vertically. Therefore, a position or posture of the knob 40 may be changed based on a position or shape of the panel 30.
As described above, gas ignition requires forward-backward movement and rotation of the valve shaft. In order to extinguish the gas, the valve shaft may be rotated in the reverse direction to close the gas valve.
Recently, with the demands of high safety and improved aesthetic appearance, cooking appliances equipped with a knob made from an aluminum material or zinc material have been manufactured. If the knob 40 is made from a metal material, an outer appearance of the cooking appliance is aesthetically improved by virtue of its metallic gloss, and a weight of the knob 40 is increased, thereby preventing children from easily manipulating the knob 40.
In many cases, the knob 40 is substantially vertically arranged on the front portion of the cooking appliance. This means that the valve shaft is substantially horizontally arranged. Therefore, there is a high risk that the valve shaft may become deformed or eccentrically biased, which may lead to restriction of forward-backward movement or rotation of the valve shaft.
Restriction of movement of the valve shaft may frequently occur when the knob 40 is relatively heavy, and may more frequently occur especially when the valve shaft is arranged substantially horizontally. This is because a higher bending moment may be applied to the valve shaft due to the weight of the knob 40.
In a case in which a knob-ring (refer to an embodiment of the present application described hereinafter) is used, movement of the knob 40 may be restricted by the knob-ring. This restriction may also occur when the valve shaft is deformed or eccentrically biased. It is necessary to devise a cooking appliance capable of preventing restriction of movement of the knob or the valve shaft.